1 Human development is the scientific study of processes of change and stability.  The scientific study of human development began with studies of childhood during the nineteenth century.
verb (used with object), cultivated, cultivating. 1. to prepare and work on (land) in order to raise crops; till. 2. to use a cultivator on. 3. to promote or improve the growth of (a plant, crop, etc.) by labor and attention.
Word Origin & History. culture mid-15c., the tilling of land, from L. cultura, from pp. stem of colere tend, guard, cultivate, till (see cult). The figurative sense of cultivation through education is first attested c.1500.